AUBURN, Alabama -- Despite a subpar record, Florida Atlantic's defense has had some success this season.

And the Owls feel like they will have some familiarity with Auburn's hurry-up, no-huddle scheme.

Under offensive coordinator Brian Wright, Florida Atlantic is running an offense that Wright calls an "up-tempo spread offense," and Owls coach Carl Pelini believes it's the closest the Owls' 30th-ranked defense has come to trying to stop an attack like Auburn's.

"I would say out of all the teams that we have faced, what Brian does offensively, I’m mean it is not exactly the same, but a lot of what we do mirrors a lot of what they do," Pelini said. "Especially in terms of the running game."

Florida Atlantic is almost 50-50 in terms of the run and the pass, focusing on a running game led by Owls' running back Jonathan Wallace -- in no way related to the Auburn quarterback -- who has 508 yards and three touchdowns in seven games this season.

The Owls rank 85th in the country at 347.7 yards per game.

"What we had in the spring and in camp probably gives us something to draw on in terms of what we are going to see," Pelini said.

Out of spread formations, the Owls try to achieve balance with the running game, although it's much closer to a 50-50 split in terms of play-calling. Florida Atlantic has run it 52.7 percent of the time, far less than Auburn's pace this season.

Auburn ranks seventh in the nation at 300.1 rushing yards per game, and the Tigers have been increasingly physical, running the ball on 66.3 percent of snaps.

"We'd like to be a physical football team, and even though we spread it out a lot and we go fast, you realize we have a physical mind-set," offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said. "In our league, you have to do that.

The Tigers also create problems by using a lot of different formations and motion, forcing a defense to prepare for a lot of different scenarios.

With that in mind, Florida Atlantic's defense, which ranks 30th in the country in total defense but 81st in the league in rushing defense at 181.4 yards allowed per game, spent the bye week focusing on breaking down Auburn film and trying to sort through all the different looks the Tigers give.

"They give you a lot offensively—a lot of formations and a lot of sets," Pelini said. "They use their personnel in many unique ways. To have the extra week probably helped us, in terms of our defensive staff getting ready."